Film-Ocean Ltd (Film-Ocean), a Stapem Group company, announces that construction contractors have broken ground on its new purpose-built facilities in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. The bespoke development is due for completion late summer 2022.

EC-OG, a specialist in intelligent energy management and storage technologies for the energy industry, has achieved a significant company milestone with the first commercial delivery of its Halo subsea battery storage system. The lithium-ion based device will be part of a world-first autonomous offshore power sea trial in Q1 2022 at the US Navy Wave Energy Test Site, off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Greensea, creator of OPENSEA®, the universal open architecture software platform for the marine industry, announces the hire of Paco Santana as Vice President of Business Development - Defense. Paco will immediately begin connecting with and developing relationships with current and future military partners.

Centurion Group has successfully acquired two new companies; Polar Septic Systems, a leading provider of wastewater rentals and treatment solutions in Canada, and Aberdeen based Aleron who design and manufacture specialized subsea equipment for sale and rental to the subsea energy, decommissioning, telecoms and offshore wind markets.

In alignment with Scottish Government guidance on the coronavirus situation, the organisers of SPE Offshore Europe have made the difficult decision to postpone the event on 1-4 February 2022 at P&J Live, Aberdeen.

Human activities affect the ocean in many ways. Warming and reductions in nutrient supply affect oceanic ecosystems. This has consequences for our food supply and the ocean’s uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide - and thus on the ocean's ability to mitigate climate change. The German-Israeli joint project "Eastern Mediterranean Sea as a model for Future Ocean Research" (EMS FORE) will investigate the consequences of these changes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a model region. The GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany) is leading the five-year study together with the University of Haifa (Israel). The Helmholtz Association is funding the work as an "International Helmholtz Laboratory" with a total of six million euros.

The finalists have been announced for the 2022 Subsea Expo awards, celebrating the companies and individuals leading the way in the UK’s £8billion underwater industry. The prestigious awards ceremony, organised by the Global Underwater Hub, will take place on February 23, 2022, at P&J Live in Aberdeen.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE:HII) Technical Solutions division announced today the successful integration of its advanced autonomy solutions with Sea Machines Robotics’ SM300 autonomy product. The integration of these autonomous capabilities supports complex mission planning and collaboration between unmanned systems.

The Global Underwater Hub (GUH) has announced a series of senior appointments to deliver its ambition of transforming the underwater industry in the UK. The new intelligence-led organisation has appointed a finance director and head of communications to strengthen its team as it sets out on its mission to create strategic alliances and partnerships with other industry organisations and agencies around the world.

The first Southwark development well was expected to spud by the weekend of 18-19 December, following the repair of the Noble Hans Deul rig. Having initially anticipated a minor delay, owing to repeated technical issues with the underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), it has not yet been possible to safely spud the well.

ROVOP, a leading remotely operated vehicle specialist (ROV), is predicting a continuing growth trajectory in 2022. This comes after a strong year which, since the previously reported £25m of contract wins, has seen the business secure a further £5m of awards in the last six weeks, predominantly in the renewables sector. This reflects the continuing increase in ROVOP’s global operations and business activity across all sectors.

DARPA has awarded Phase 2 contracts to continue the Manta Ray program that began in 2020. The effort seeks to demonstrate innovative technologies allowing payload-capable autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to operate on long-duration, long-range missions in ocean environments. The two prime contractors, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and Martin Defense Group, are each developing unique full-scale demonstration vehicles.

We wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2022! We are rebranding our magazine to Ocean Robotics Planet!

Fugro has deployed two new autonomous environmental landers off the coast of Saudi Arabia to collect oceanographic data in deep and remote areas of the Red Sea. The yearlong effort is being performed in collaboration with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to better understand the local ecosystem and support Saudi Vision 2030, the country’s social and economic framework for a sustainable future.

InterMoor, the lead brand for Acteon’s Moorings and Anchors segment is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a key contract with Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd. (Chevron) for the disconnection and removal of Single Point Mooring (SPM) Buoy 1 and 2 in the Gulf of Thailand.

We are pleased to announce that Cyprus Subsea has become an international distributor for SubC Imaging. Cyprus Subsea is entitled to distributing SubC Imaging products, services, and support in Cyprus, Greece, and Israel.

Nauticus Robotics, Inc., a Houston-based developer of cloud-based surface and subsea robots, software, and associated services, and CleanTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: CLAQ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement that will result in Nauticus becoming a publicly listed company.

C-Kore Systems successfully completed an umbilical monitoring campaign for Vår Energi on their Balder Future project in Norway. The C-Kore Cable Monitor units were used to test the insulation resistance and continuity of the umbilical electrical lines during installation. With their automated test routine, the C-Kore units quickly and repeatedly tested and data-logged measurements of cable integrity, reducing the testing time required.